


Stay Awake

by writing_with_a_passion16



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 17:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2318024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writing_with_a_passion16/pseuds/writing_with_a_passion16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick was with Jason when Joker brought out the crowbar. Except, Dick was on the receiving end.</p>
<p>"I struggled in my handcuffs. On a normal day, I could have escaped these in minutes, but today my hands were shaking too badly. I tried to keep them steady, tried to feel for the lock so I could pick it. Every time, my hands would waver, slip and hit the pole behind me. I needed to get out, I should be motivated, but the scene unveiling in front of me is putting more pressure on me than anything ever had before."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay Awake

I struggled in my handcuffs. On a normal day, I could have escaped these in minutes, but today my hands were shaking too badly. I tried to keep them steady, tried to feel for the lock so I could pick it. Every time, my hands would waver, slip and hit the pole behind me. I needed to get out, I should be motivated, but the scene unveiling in front of me is putting more pressure on me than anything ever had before.

I watched with horrified eyes as the Joker swung the crowbar down onto his ribs, then again to the other side. With every hit I struggled more, shook more. A blow went to his head, and I cried out.

The Joker turned around and smiled at me, “Aw, are we jealous that Big Brother Birdy is having all of the fun? Don’t worry, Rob, I’ll get to you in a second.”

I bared my teeth at him and spat, “If you touch him again, so help me God I will leave you in so much agony that your entire family will never be able to walk again!”

The Joker laughed, “Is that the best you can come up with?”

“Touch him again, I dare you,” I growled.

The Joker smiled his crooked, horrible smile and kicked him right in the ribs.

I tried to lunge at him, but my wrist, cuffed to the pole, held me back, “Enough! You’ve had your fun, now let him go!”

“I haven’t come close to my fun yet, Bat Brat. You see, for years your big brother Nightwing has been almost as annoying as Daddy Bats. However, I’d miss Batsie, we have too many fond memories, but Wingy here, I wouldn’t miss.” The Joker laughed again at my horrified expression.

I pulled at my chains again, shouting obscenities at the Joker. I stopped my struggle and tried to pick the lock on the cuffs again. I almost had it, but my shaking hands slipped.

Joker continued to hit him with the crowbar, laughing at his grunts and moans of pain.

After I watched Joker hit his head, I lunged again, this time dislocating my shoulder. I screamed in pain, drawing the Joker’s attention from him to me.

“My, my, did you just hurt yourself hoping to stop me?” The Joker walked over to me and examined my shoulder, “Oh, that looks nasty, not as nasty as your brother’s entire body looks, but still nasty none the less.”

“You son of a bitch, I swear on my grave, you will pay for this!”

“Ah, ah, ah, I’d hold my tongue if I were you.”

“And why’s that?”

The Joker grabbed my jaw and forced me to look at him. Blood smeared from Joker’s hand onto my face. “You should hold your tongue because I’m the one who decides if Wingy over there lives or dies. Let’s play a new game shall we? How about, if you’re a good boy, I won’t kill him, and if you’re a bad birdy, I’ll consider possibly sparing his life.”

I was steaming with rage, my hands still trying at my cuffs, despite the pain in my arm.

Joker started walking over to him, and as he did so, I saw him try to sit up, try to look at me. He pushed himself weekly onto his arms, “It’s okay, Jay.”

I knew the Joker had known our identities for years, but Bruce still hated it when we used our real names around the Joker. I knew that I should remind him that right now I was still Robin, and he was still Nightwing. However, I just shook my head, “Dick, I’m so sorry.”

Dick opened his mouth to speak but the crowbar came down on him again and he screamed in agony. I could hear his bones shatter in the silence of the room. 

I finally picked the lock on my cuffs and let them slip to the floor. They clattered so loudly it was as if a bomb had just gone off in the silent room.

Joker looked at me, “That took you longer than I anticipated, oh well, that left more play time for me. Later, kiddies,” Joker smiled before jumping out of the nearest window.

I ran to see where he’d gone, but only saw the darkness of the night.

I ran over to Dick and propped his head up on my lap. I let my shoulder hang limply as my other hand stroked through his bloody, ratted hair. 

He looked up at me with tear filled, tired eyes, “Hey, Jay.”

“Sh, Dick, it’s okay, I’ve got you.”

Dick’s eyes began to close and he sighed.

I tugged on his hair, “No, no, stay awake Dickie, stay awake.” My hand flew to my ear, “Bruce, Oracle, Dick’s hurt, I need backup.”

Dick’s hands reached up and pulled my hand down. He pressed my palm to his lips and kissed it lightly before releasing it. “Can we just be alone, Jay?”

Tears streamed down my cheeks and behind my mask, “Okay, Dickie, whatever you want, but promise me you’ll stay awake.”

“Jason, take off our masks.”

I nodded and reached up to take my mask off. I then reached and took Dick’s off, setting it beside mine. I reached for his hands, wanting to take his cuffs off. Dick looked up at me as I pried the cuffs from his wrist and threw them across the room. 

Dick reached a weak hand up to my face and sighed happily, “There you are, Jason.”

I covered his hand with mine, “I’m here, I’m not leaving.”

“It hurts, Jay.”

“I know, babe, I know.”

“I’m tired, Jay bird.”

I dropped my hand to his face and stroked his blood and tear streaked cheeks. “I know you’re tired, Dickie, but you have to stay awake. Keep looking at me, okay?”

“Jason, I have something to tell you.”

“What?”

“Sustineo in aeterno toro adventum tuum.”

“What?”

“It’s Latin,” Dick whispered before stopping to swallow the blood in his mouth. “It means 'I’ll await you in my immortal bed'.”

I shook my head and patted his cheek lightly, “You won’t have to. You won’t have to wait for me, because you’re going to stay with me. Bruce is on his way, he’ll get you help.”

“It’s too late, Jay.”

“No, no, don’t talk like that.”

“I wanted to see your eyes one last time.”

“This isn’t the last time, Dickie. Please, please stay awake.”

“But I’m tired, Jay, so tired.”

I pressed my lips to his, tasting my tears and his blood in the kiss. I pulled back slightly and whispered against his lips, “Talk to me. Tell me a story, anything, just stay awake.”

“I’m too tired to tell you a story.”

“Please, Dick, please just keep talking to me.”

Dick sighed and grabbed my hand and whispered, “Once there was a boy who thought he was happy. One day, he met another younger boy, and realized he wasn’t happy, not unless the other boy was happy. He tried everything to keep the younger boy smiling, he took him to the movies, took him to get chili cheese dogs.” Dick stopped and coughed up blood, “They grew up together, their smiles never waving. One day they were sitting high above the city when the younger boy looked up at the older one and whispered, ‘I think I love you.’ The older boy smiled, kissed the younger boy, and whispered back, ‘I know I love you’.” Dick started coughing again, more violently this time.

I propped Dick up a little in my lap, trying to help him breathe.

Dick stopped coughing and looked up at me, “Know that I’ll always love you, Jason.”

“Dickie, please stay with me, don’t leave me.” I leaned down to kiss Dick, but he was still. I pulled away and gently slid his head off my lap. I stroked his cheeks, “Dickie?” I don’t know why I called out to him, I could tell he was gone. I could see it in his vibrant blue eyes, he was gone.

I ran my hand over his face and closed his eye lids, kissing them each. “I love you too, Dick,” I whispered before throwing myself over his limp body and sobbing until my throat was raw.

~*~*~*~

 

Roy walked over to me, as I stared down at the freshly dug grave. He squeezed my shoulder, “How are you holding up, buddy?”

I closed my eyes and swallowed back the lump in my throat, “How do you think?”

Roy nodded, “Do you want to talk? You’ve shut yourself away from everyone the last week. I’m here for you, you know?”

I nodded, “I just can’t bring myself to talk about it.”

Roy sat down and patted the grass next to him.

“You’re not going to leave me alone until I talk, are you?”

Roy nodded, “That’s what friends are for.”

I sat down then reached into my pocket and pulled my hand out, toying with a cold object in my fingers.

“What’s that?” Roy asked, noticing my hand moving around the object.

“I had it all planned out. I was going to take him to the place we first kissed; I was going to have rose petals, wine, everything.” I stopped fidgeting and opened my palm revealing a thin silver band, “I was going to propose.”

Roy reached over and squeezed my shoulder, “He would’ve said yes. In fact, two weeks ago he was talking about how weird you’d been acting, how secretive you were. I said that maybe you were fooling around with Kory, but he knew. He knew you were going to propose, and you know what he told me? He said that his immediate answer would have been yes, he never would have hesitated.”

A single tear streamed down my cheek, “Thanks, Roy, can I have a minute.”

Roy nodded, “I’ll buy you a drink when you’re ready to talk more.”

I waited until Roy was out of sight before getting to my knees and moving closer to Dick’s headstone. “Dick, this isn’t how I imagined this would go, but I still want you to hear this.” I took a deep breath before continuing, “When Bruce brought me in I was a pathetic, rebellious little shit who loved to get on every nerve he could find on anyone. But you, you were different. You made me change who I was completely. You showed me that life could be good again, that I didn’t have to live alone. You were so kind to me in a world I had thought was rotten to the core. You made me change everything I’d ever known about anything. I fell in love with you from the very start, and I’ll always love you. Dick, I’ll never love anyone again, I think my ability to love died with you. I was going to ask you to marry me tonight, so, Richard John Grayson, will you marry me?”

A tear fell onto the pile of dirt below me and I sighed. I dug my fingers into the earth and pulled some of it back. I put the ring in the hole and brushed the dirt back over it. 

“When I said ‘I think I love you,’ what I really meant was, ‘I love you more than life itself.’ I love you, Dickie, see you soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own DC characters. I know there are a lot of "What if Dick died instead of Jason?" fics out there, but I hope this is some what different. 
> 
> The Latin did not come from Google Translate! That was an actual epitaph on an Ancient Roman tombstone that I had to translate in my Latin class. It's so sweet <3


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